Copy Editors

After gaining skill and experience, copy editors may be given a wider range of duties while retaining the same title. They may advance to the position of senior copy editor, which involves overseeing the work of junior copy editors, or project editor. The project editor performs a wide variety of tasks, including copyediting, coordinating the work of in-house and freelance copy editors, and managing the schedule of a particular project. From this position, an editor may move up to become an assistant editor, then managing editor, then editor in chief.

At newspapers, a common advancement route is for copy editors to be promoted to a particular department, where they may move up the ranks to management positions. An editor who has achieved success in a department may become a city editor, who is responsible for news, or a managing editor, who runs the entire editorial operation of a newspaper.

Magazine copy editors advance in much the same way that copy editors in book publishing do. They work their way up to become senior editors, managing editors, copy chiefs, and editors-in-chief. In many cases, magazine copy editors advance by moving from a position on one magazine to the same position with a larger or more prestigious magazine. Such moves often bring significant increases in both pay and status.